Kyle Whittingham has accomplished many things in his nine years at the helm of Utah Football. Perhaps the greatest of them is the family environment he has helped to foster within his program.[details]

2008 (Junior): Played in 12 games with 11 starts … missed
the UNLV game (hamstring) ... 41 tackles, four
interceptions and three pass breakups … all
four picks came against ranked opponents
(2 vs. Alabama, 1 vs. TCU, 1 vs. BYU) … first
interception in the Sugar Bowl came on Alabama’s
second drive and led to a Utah TD … made gameending
interception in win over TCU … also had
six tackles against TCU … five tackles with an
interception against BYU … season-high eight
tackles vs. New Mexico … preseason all-MWC
… member of Utah’s Student-Athlete Mentors
(SAMS).

2007 (Sophomore): Honorable mention all-MWC ... played in 12 games and made seven starts at free safety ...injured his shoulder in the third game of the season and played at less than full strength for the remainder of the season ... missed one complete game and played in a limited capacity in several others ... the game prior to the injury, he was named the Bronco Nagurski National Defensive Player of Week, MWC Defensive Player of the Week, and won an ESPN Helmet Sticker for his work in Utah's win over No. 11 UCLA ... against UCLA, he had two interceptions, a pass breakup, six tackles and a forced fumble into the end zone for a touchback ... career-high 12 tackles and a pass breakup against Brigham Young ... six tackles (including five solo) and a pass breakup vs. Navy in the Poinsettia Bowl ... 44 total tackles ... caused a team-high five turnovers (three interceptions and two forced fumbles).

Personal: Honorable mention junior college All-American in 2006 ... also all-conference, all-district and all-state in '06 ... 96 total tackles, five interceptions, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble for L.A. Southwest College ... also ran track for L.A. Southwest ... 21.65 clocking in 200 meters and 47.52 in 400 meters ... 6'8" high jumper ... as a senior at Fremont High School (Calif.), he was named to L.A. Times 2005 all-region team and its "top defensive back" ... 2005 defensive co-player of the year in the Coliseum League ... also lettered in track and basketball ... all-district basketball player ... son of Wanda and the late Wayne Johnson ... three brothers and two sisters ... brother Elijah is a wide receiver at L.A. Southwest ... born Feb. 13, 1987.

A tall, long-armed safety who generates impressive power on contact and knows how to disengage the ball from his man, Johnson plays as a center field safety and does a great job reading the action in front of him and taking proper angles toward the ball. He's a physical hitter on contact. He's a bit long-legged but displays impressive bend for his size and does a nice job keeping his feet under him and quickly getting out of his breaks. He lacks an elite initial burst but showcases good range when asked to track the ball and consistently is able to close quickly on the ball. Johnson showcases good instincts when asked to attack the line of scrimmage and consistently is able to sniff out the football and wrap up in space. He plays with a bad attitude and can play the role of intimidator in the deep half. He showcases only average fluidly for the position when asked to flip and turn to run downfield and might be better off making the move to strong safety at the next level. But he looks like a starting center field-type safety with the ability to ball hawk in the secondary.